This Collaborative is between the University of California, San Francisco Cancer Center (UCSFCC) and San Francisco State University (SFSU). It will initiate two pilot Research Projects and two Planning and Development activities for collaborative undergraduate and/or pre- doctoral research training in cancer biology. The collaborative pilot Research Projects will involve two teams of SFSU/UCSFCC investigators; both collaborations will consist of a newly hired SFSU. Assistant Professor of Biology and a senior UCSF faculty member who is also a member of the UCSFCC. UCSF Professor Elizabeth Blackburn, Ph.D. will serve as mentor and co-investigator with Sally Pasion, Ph.D. to characterize telomere ends in fission yeast DNA replication and repair mutant. Wilfred Denetclaw, Ph.D. (appointment as a SFSU Assistant Professor of Biology effective September 2000) will be mentored by his former UCSF post-doctoral supervisor Professor Charles Ordahl. Their collaborative Research Project will focus on the biological markers for dermomyotomal myotome progenitor cells and their epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition into the myotome layer. The research questions and mentoring commitments built into each collaborative pilot Research project are designed to result in the submission of RO1 proposals during the third year of this P-20 planning grant. Student research training will be the focus for the Planning and Development section of this proposal. One pilot Planning and Development activity will use a joint SFSU and UCSFCC faculty committee to develop a more aggressive and concerted placement process/program to recruit SFSU undergraduate (MARC and MBRS- RISE) and SFSU MA/MS degree (NIH Bridge and MBRS-RISE) students into UCSFCC laboratories specifically will review and evaluate the past involvement of, 1) SFSU undergraduates (MARC and MBRS- RISE) in UCSF summer research experiences and 2) the academic year thesis research experiences of SFSU RISE) in UCSF summer research experiences and 2) the academic year thesis research experiences of SFSU MA/MS degree students whose research was executed in UCSF faculty laboratories as a basis to develop an action plan that will provide an excellent training experience in an environment permeated with a cancer biology focus. The second pilot Planning and Development activity will be directed at doing the ground work necessary to develop a joint R-25E or R-25T or T- 32 pre-doctoral training proposal during the third year of this P-20 project. Realization of this goal will require serious planning through joint UCSFCC-SFSU faculty meetings and retreats to 1) identify and prioritize short and long-term pre-doctoral student cancer research training goals and 2) develop a mutually acceptable collaborative pre- doctoral cancer research training program within the guidelines of a R- 25E or R-25T or T-32 funding mechanism. A core element of any final proposal will be the application of recruitment and retention strategies that will result in an increased enrollment of under-represented strategies that will result in an increased enrollment of under-represented minorities into and graduation from Ph.D. programs.